After making their feature filmmaking debut with the 2009 thriller Absence, the directing duo of Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer caught a lot of positive attention for their 2014 horror film Starry Eyes. That led to them being asked to contribute to the anthology movie Holidays, and being hired to direct the 2019 adaptation of the Stephen King story Pet Sematary… an adaptation that made some decent money at the box office ($113 million on a budget of $21 million), but wasn’t nearly as well-received as the original, 1989 film adaptation of Pet Sematary. Six years have passed since the release of their King film, and in that time Kölsch and Widmyer have only directed a couple of episodes of Scream: The TV Series. Now, Deadline reports that Kölsch and Widmyer have finally made a new feature film, a backwoods horror story called The Swallow, and Grace Van Dien (Stranger Things) has the lead role. The first image of Van Dien in The Swallow can be seen at the bottom of this article.
Van Dien takes on the role of Ziggy, who, along with her four friends, journeys out on a camping trip to a picturesque remote forest. But trespassing into an off-limits area, they awaken an uncanny terror in the woods… and a ravenous hunger from within the Earth. Soon, the ground itself is trying to swallow anything and anyone it touches and now the group have nowhere to run as every step they take could be their last.
The Swallow was filmed in Oregon and recently wrapped production. Van Dien is joined in the cast by Jack Wright (A Bloody Night), Tayler Buck (Annabelle: Creation), Kalama Epstein (The Fabelmans), and Kayla DiVenere (Love, Victor).
Kölsch and Widmyer directed the film from their own screenplay. James Harris, Josh Goldbloom, and John Finemore are producing, with BondIt Media Capital providing the financing. Deadline notes that the project was made possible through BondIt’s financing relationship with Red Sea Media, who represent the film in North America. Architect is handling the global sales and has already secured distribution deals in multiple countries.
Kölsch and Widmyer provided the following statement: “The Swallow is a tonal throwback to the type of horror that made us excited about this genre in the first place. Something pure, visceral and absolutely harrowing. Our hope is that it will make you never look at the ground the same way again.” Genre fans will be glad to hear that Tony Gardner, whose credits include The Blob and Chucky, served as the supervisor of the practical special effects.
Are you glad to know there’s another Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer movie on the way? Does The Swallow sound interesting to you? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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